Into The Light
by daniel-gudman
Summary: A classic tale on the inevitability of change and death with the Inu-Yasha gang. Not Jeremy Sumpter. Begins with Kagome, babysitting her brothers. Spirals out of my control from there.
1. Chapter 1

daniel's disclaimer: Although it seems redundant to have a disclaimer for something specifically posted on this website, I suppose that I am not one to buck a tradition so zealously upheld. Therefor, I claim no ownership to the following characters.  
  
I've noticed that a lot of authors have been ripping off classic Western fairytales for their stories, and Queen in particular does a great job of it. So I figured, hey, I'll jump on the bandwagon!

* * *

Higurashi Kagome sighed elaborately and wished that her mother would hurry up and come home.  
  
She was babysitting. Again.  
  
She figured she shouldn't begrudge her mother this, after all. She had gone to their great-aunt's funeral, and since Souta didn't know the lady and Kohaku didn't deal with death well she had stayed while her mom drove their other grandmother and grandfather to the service.  
  
So she, Kagome, had to watch her hyperactive brother and both foster brothers. By herself.  
  
It wouldn't have been so bad if they had been content to just play video games, as was Souta's usual wont, but no. Shippo had proclaimed himself bored, so now they were playing Scrabble.  
  
Or at least, Kohaku and Shippo and Souta were playing Scrabble. Kagome was keeping them from each others' throats.  
  
"No way, Shippo!" Souta shouted. "'Ellipses' isn't a word!"  
  
"It is too!" Shippo yelled back. "It is too a word!"  
  
"Is not!"  
  
"Is too!"  
  
"Is not!"  
  
Kagome, rubbing her forehead to ward off the migraine she felt coming, looked up from the dictionary. "Actually, Souta, 'Ellipses' IS a word."  
  
"No way." Souta said, frowning. He held his hand out for the dictionary. "Gimme that!"  
  
Grunting, Kagome complied, tapping the word with her index finger.  
  
"Dammit!" Souta said.  
  
"What was that, young man!?" Kagome scowled, tugging on his ear.  
  
"Nothing!" Souta yelped.  
  
"That's what I thought." Kagome said darkly, letting go of him.  
  
There was a muffled crash outside.  
  
Kohaku looked up, frowning. "Kagome...?" He asked hesitantly.  
  
Kagome nodded. "I heard it too."  
  
"Shit!" Muffled, but loud enough to hear, the expletive rang out in a coarse male voice.  
  
"Kagome..." Shippo appealed piteously, but Kagome shushed him.  
  
Kohaku handed her a baseball bat and tightened the grip on his own. She nodded her thanks and stepped forward, nervous.  
  
"Get back here!" The voice shouted again, and the fire escape outside their window rattled dangerously.  
  
A flat black... thing... flew through the window, and Kagome squealed as it fluttered past her. "What was that!?"  
  
Souta frowned. " I don't see anything, Kagome..."  
  
"That... that Thing!" Kagome hollered, pointing at the mobile smudge of black that drifted across the floor. It seemed to have a definite shape, almost humanoid, but it was translucent and it kept moving about so Kagome couldn't tell.  
  
"Die!" Kohaku shouted behind her, and she twisted just in time to see him bring his bat down across the back of a wild-looking man's skull.  
  
The man hit the ground, and grabbed his head. "Crap!" He grunted. Kohaku raised the bat menacingly.  
  
The man rolled onto his side, curled in a fetal position. He glanced up at Kohaku angrily. Kagome got a good look at him: a mass of black hair, ancient armor with wolf-furs at the shoulders, around his hips, up to the knees of his otherwise bare legs, and incredibly blue eyes. And he had pointed ears, of all things. Most worrisome, though, was the sword at his left hip.  
  
"Move and you get it again." Kohaku threatened.  
  
In response, the man whipped his foot around, bracing on his forearm and other leg to kick Kohaku right in the stomach with the ball of his foot. With a whoosh of air, Kohaku fell back.  
  
"Kohaku!" Kagome ran forward, brandishing her own bat, Shippo and Souta wide-eyed with fear behind her.  
  
The man popped up, and dismissively dodged her swing, leaping forward.  
  
"Gotchya!" He cried ferally, leaping at the black smudge.  
  
It darted away, huddled in a corner of the ceiling. In response, the man shouted again and leapt at it.  
  
It quivered and flew away again, and Kagome glared at his antics as Kohaku stood up with Shippo and Souta's help.  
  
"What the hell are you doing!?" Kagome shouted.  
  
"Not that you can tell, wench, but I'm trying to catch my shadow." He called over his shoulder and leapt to try and pin the smudge again--and failed, again.  
  
"That inky black thing?" Kagome asked, confused. Now that she looked, he didn't have an actual shadow--as if the light just passed right through him. Her grandparents were steadfast believers in the supernatural, but this was the first time she'd actually seen anything paranormal.  
  
"Yeah!" The man called back absently, landing on the wall. His gaze leapt back, though, as he sprang up off the wallpaper. "You can see--OOOFF!" He was cut off when, not seeing where he was going, he slammed face first into the ceiling. He spun spectacularly before landing in an undignified heap on the carpet.  
  
He sat up, nursing his head. Again. "You can see it?" He repeated, incredulous.  
  
"Yeah..." Kagome replied, frowning.  
  
"See what? Kagome, what are you two talking about?!" Souta asked plaintively.  
  
"My shadow." the man replied. "Most people can't see it."  
  
"I can't see anything." Shippo said suspiciously.  
  
"Exactly." He replied easily. "Ha!" He laughed suddenly, leaping up in a backflip to land squarely on his shadow. "Thought I'd forgotten about you, eh?" He jeered.  
  
In response, his shadow heaved mightily, sending him tumbling head over heels as it darted to hide behind Kagome.  
  
"Whoops!" He called out, catching himself on his hands and feet this time.  
  
His shadow leapt out, fluttering madly through the air to hide behind Kagome.  
  
Kagome squeaked, trying to brush it away from her as it rippled about her. The man frowned, and sighed.  
  
"It really likes you." He said, rubbing his chin, ignoring the dismayed cries of the other children as Kagome frantically hopped around, avoiding something they couldn't see.  
  
"I don't want it to like me!" Kagome "I want it to go away!"  
  
"I tell you what." The man said, lips pursed, "if I take her with me, will you cooperate?"  
  
The shadow paused, and one appendage (the head; the man could tell) wriggled up and down vigorously.  
  
Kagome was less appreciative. "Hell no!" She cried, and Shippo nodded. "Yeah! No way!"  
  
"Well, it's settled then!" The man smiled, clapping his hands together. "She'll come with us!"  
  
"No I won't!" Kagome screeched.  
  
"You'll have to get through me first." Kohaku challenged, stepping in front of Kagome.  
  
"And me!" Souta added, standing behind Kohaku.  
  
"And me!" Shippo said, standing behind the other two boys.  
  
"...Ok." The man said, shrugging, and he leapt forward, pushing Kohaku out of the way, shoving Souta aside, and jumping over Shippo to sweep Kagome off her feet, throw her over his shoulder, and finally leap through the window.  
  
His shadow watched, quivering, as he jumped outside, right over the fire escape.  
  
Kagome screamed mightily and there was a terrific crash as the pair hit the garbage cans stacked next to their apartment complex. Three stories under the window.  
  
"Kagome!" The three boys chorused, running to the window, clambering over the fire escape.  
  
The man's shadow quietly fluttered over, gently wrapped around them, ignoring their protests.  
  
"You want to help us?" Shippo asked timorously, and the thing paused, the head-shaped lump nodding vigorously.  
  
Of course, none of the boys could see it.  
  
"What's going on!?" Souta cried, struggling against an unseen force.  
  
Kohaku looked down; his feet were nearly a meter off the floor. "I think it's that shadow that Kagome and that man were talking about...."  
  
"I think it wants to help." Shippo volunteered, and the shadow took that as permission, drifting out the window to spiral down towards the ground, three floors down.  
  
Kagome groaned, rubbing her butt. That had been quite the impact! The man underneath her grunted in agony, having absorbed her fall as well when she landed on top of him. Those metal lids hurt, too. "Damn you Inu-Yasha..." he muttered, almost incoherent.  
  
"What was that?" Kagome asked, frowning.  
  
He moaned, shifting spasmodically. "Get off!" He grunted.  
  
"Sorry!" Kagome said sheepishly, jumping down. He simply rolled, crashing from the smashed garbage cans to the concrete ground. He moaned again, curling up in a ball.  
  
"Ka-go-meee!" Souta called, shoved against Shippo and Kohaku as the shadow carried them down. "We're coming!"  
  
"Thanks..." Kagome called back, frowning. She looked behind her.  
  
The man was bleeding from the forehead. She would probably have felt better if he hadn't broken into their home and kicked Kohaku; as it was, she was just glad he wouldn't be able to hurt any of them.  
  
The boys drifted down, and then leapt free of the shadow's embrace to swarm around Kagome.  
  
"Are you alright Kagome!?"  
  
"You aren't hurt, are you Kagome?"  
  
"Please say you're ok, Kagome!"  
  
"I'm fine, I'm fine!" Kagome hastily assured them. "He broke my fall." She said, pointing at the man who was lying on the ground, twitching occasionally.  
  
His shadow drifted over, and gently touched his shoulder.  
  
His right eye opened, blinking away the thin sheen of blood. "I'll be fine..." He said. He grunted, and sat up, arching his back, loudly popping a whole series of vertebrae and finally, both his shoulders.  
  
"Ew..." Souta said, scrunching his nose.  
  
The man stood up with a heavy grunt, and his shadow drifted around anxiously.  
  
Kagome swallowed. "Are you ok, then, uh..."  
  
The man blinked. "Oh, I haven't introduced myself, have I?" He smiled roguishly. "The name's Kouga. Leader of the West Wolf Cave." He bowed, grunting when his hip snapped, and straightened.  
  
"My name's Kagome." Kagome politely volunteered.  
  
"I gathered." Kouga dryly replied.  
  
"I'm Kohaku."  
  
"I'm Souta."  
  
"And I'm Shippo." The last boy volunteered, and Kouga nodded at each.  
  
"Well, we have to be going now." He said. "It's been fun." With that, his shadow reattached itself to his feet and then he leapt into the air. This time, however, he didn't fall on his face but flew up, his magical powers restored with his shadow reattached.  
  
"..."  
  
He zipped back down and threw Kagome over his shoulder. "Almost forgot about you!" He admitted, turning to fly back into the air.  
  
"Kyaaa!" Kagome screamed.  
  
Kohaku launched himself, wrapping around Kouga's leg as he took off.  
  
Souta managed to grab Kohaku's leg as they flew up, and Shippo came last, clinging to the leg of Souta's flannel pajamas.  
  
"Gerroff!" Kouga growled, shaking his leg as hard as he could with three growing boys suspended from it. The boys oscillated back and forth.  
  
Kagome thwaped him on the head as hard as she dared; they were getting higher and higher, and she didn't know how he did this flying thing. "Don't shake them off, idiot, or they'll fall!"  
  
Kouga contemplated saying 'I know' but at the last second wisely decided not to. "Ok, ok. They can come along too." He said.  
  
"Come where?" Souta shouted up, straining to follow the conversation.  
  
Kouga pointed with the arm that wasn't holding Kagome. "To there!"  
  
"...The moon!?" Kagome cried.  
  
"No, no, not at all..." Kouga said. "Over to the left a little? You see that bright light?"  
  
"You're taking us 'into the light?'" Kagome screeched.  
  
"Well, of course it sounds bad when you put it like that." Kouga chided. "You won't die from it."  
  
At the bottom, Shippo squeezed his eyes shut and tried not to look down; they were very very high and his arms were beginning to feel very very tired.  
  
His eyes snapped open, though, when they seemed to... shift... and he looked around and gasped.  
  
The whole world was a broad, flat crescent of land that arced around a bay- sized body of water. The whole thing was simply suspended in the air, floating against a surreal blue-green void. Although there was no source of light available, it was still very bright, and Kagome squinted slightly. It was about as bright as a sunny day on the beach.  
  
"Where are we?" She whispered.  
  
Kouga grinned. "Don't really know what this place is. It's some kinda pocket dimension, a hole in the fabric of space and time."  
  
"So, where are we?" Kohaku asked.  
  
Kouga sighed. "Miroku calls it--"  
  
"Who's Miroku?" Kagome cut him off.  
  
Kouga grunted, annoyed at being interrupted. "Miroku is a supernatural trafficker. Sortof a fence of paranormal goods between the Spirit and Normal worlds."  
  
Kagome groaned inside. What kind of people where they getting involved with!?  
  
"Anyway," Kouga said, oblivious to her concern, "Miroku named the place, and the name stuck. Welcome to Never-Never Land."

* * *

Hoo boy, this one's gonna be iffy. And the unanswered questions (WHERE'S INU-YASHA!?) that beg to be answered. Hopefully I'll have the next chapter up before too long.  
  
Anyway, I'm also looking for a beta-reader, primarily because my brother (who reads most of the stuff I write before posting) is so used to my sense of humor that he's not really a good drop of phenolphthalein anymore.


	2. Chapter 2

daniel's disclaimer: Life is such that I don't even speak Japanese, let alone own Inu-Yasha.  
  
"Twixt" is a real word, by the way (The candy bar just dropped the last letter to make pronunciation easier). It's an archaic synonym for "between."

* * *

Ginta yawned, stretching his arms and smacking his lips as he regretfully pulled himself out of his nap. He blearily looked up into the sky, checking to see if Kouga was coming back yet. He squinted, frowning. There was the smudge off in the distance that meant Kouga was flying in. It looked a little misshapen, though.  
  
No...  
  
Ginta stood, rubbing the crud from his eyes and bringing himself fully awake. He looked again, squinting hard as the ambient glow began to dim as Never-Never Land darkened for 'night.' He looked closely. It was Kouga.  
  
He wouldn't...  
  
He did.  
  
There were three kids hanging from his left leg and a suspiciously nubile girl hefted across his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Kouga was looking inordinately pleased with himself, despite being half a day late and having kidnapped four people from the Normal World and brought them to a trippy place like Never-Never Land.  
  
"Oh no..." Ginta whispered, half-consciously resting his spear on his shoulder as he stepped out of the shade of the palm trees and walked down towards the beach. He began running as the group set down, the three kids-- all boys--clustering together to glare at Kouga as he carefully set the girl on his feet.  
  
"Kouga!" He called. "Kouga!"  
  
Kouga turned and smiled. "Ginta! What's up?"  
  
Ginta came to a halt, ignoring the four humans that were frowning at him. "Kouga, why did you bring humans here?" He asked, preparing to hear the worst.  
  
Kouga frowned. "My shadow wasn't cooperating again." He frowned, tapping his chin with his right index finger. "Miroku did a bad job with the animating spell; my shadow is getting more and more disobedient each time."  
  
Ginta sighed. "Well, did you get Shinta where he needed to be?"  
  
Kouga nodded. "Yeah, and I was coming back when my shadow unattached itself, and then I slammed into their house." He said, waving his hand towards the humans. "Oh!" He said, hitting his palm with his fist. "I haven't introduced you, have I?"  
  
He smiled as Ginta's face faltered. "Everyone," he said, "This is Ginta." He finished, pointing. Ginta nodded self-consciously. "And Ginta," Kouga said, continuing, "this is everyone." He concluded, with a vague gesture.  
  
"...Right." Ginta said. "Anyway, why are they here?"  
  
Kouga shrugged. "They saw me." He paused. "But that's not all! This girl," he said, pointing at Kagome, "could see my shadow!"  
  
"...So?" Ginta asked, frowning. "Any human with strong spirit awareness could see it."  
  
"Well..." He paused, thinking. "I think she'll really be helpful."  
  
"Now wait a minute..." Kagome said, deciding enough was enough. "We didn't agree to any of this at all. I think you should take us right back, Kouga." She concluded.  
  
"I can't." Kouga responded, shrugging.  
  
"You can't?! Not even you won't?!" Souta yelled.  
  
"Nope." Kouga responded. "Miroku's spell wore off as I got here."  
  
Ginta sighed. "I'm afraid that the only way you can get back to the Normal World is with Miroku's help." He apologized.  
  
Kagome glowered. "So I'm stuck with you idiots until some weirdo sprinkles me with pixie dust?!"  
  
"Hey!" Kouga protested.  
  
"So, is Miroku 'Tinkerbell' then?" Shippo mused.  
  
"Maybe." Kohaku said, shrugging.  
  
"Tinkerbell?" Ginta asked.  
  
"Whozzat?" Kouga added.  
  
"Never mind." Kagome said. "Just take us to this Miroku person so we can hurry up and go back home."  
  
"Ok, ok." Kouga agreed. "Me'n Ginta will take you back."  
  
"Ginta and I." Kagome automatically corrected.  
  
"But you don't know the way." Kouga said, frowning. Ginta slapped his forehead.  
  
"I meant, you should say 'Ginta and I will take you back.'" Kagome elaborated.  
  
"But, Kagome," Kouga said confused, "I already said me'n Ginta will take you. You don't even know what Miroku looks like, so how would you know?"  
  
"Kouga, that's not..." Ginta whispered, trailing off as Kouga got annoyed.  
  
"Oh, I get it." Kouga said. "You don't trust me to show you the way!"  
  
I don't believe this... Kagome thought. "Of course I don't trust you." She said out loud. "You kidnapped us!"  
  
"Oh yeah." Kouga said, rubbing his chin. "But, I have to get home anyway, so why wouldn't I bring you?"  
  
"Never mind." Kagome said, sighing. "Just lead the way."  
  
"See!" Kouga said, setting off. "Just leave it to me'n Ginta!"  
  
"He's not the brightest bulb in the box, is he?" Souta whispered to Ginta.  
  
Ginta sighed, and scooped Souta up to ride on his shoulders. Souta whooped once and Kagome spun around, glowering. She sighed when she saw that Ginta wasn't hurting Souta. "If you drop him I'll break your shins." She threatened.  
  
Souta whispered "Don't mind her." in Ginta's ear. "She's just worried about Kouga."  
  
"He means well, but... he's kinda impulsive." Ginta admitted.  
  
"Plus he's a few fries short of a happy meal." Shippo added.  
  
"A donut short a dozen." Souta giggled.  
  
"I can hear you." Kouga said without looking back. Kagome slapped her forehead and Ginta winced.  
  
Shippo walked on for a little longer before turning his pouty face on Kagome.  
  
"I'm not carrying you." Kagome stated, not breaking stride.  
  
"I'll carry the kid." Kouga offered, smiling.  
  
"No." Kagome said, before Shippo could speak up.  
  
"Why not?" Kouga asked over his shoulder, looking hurt.  
  
"Because you're our kidnapper. I'm not letting any of us closer to you than we have to be." Kagome retaliated.  
  
"You're letting Ginta carry the other one." Kouga said, stopping to point.  
  
Kagome drew up in front of him as Ginta begged Kouga not to drag him into this.  
  
"Ginta didn't kidnap us." Kagome said, glowering.  
  
Kouga frowned. "So you like Ginta more just because he didn't kidnap you?" He said, pouting as he crossed his arms.  
  
"Duh!" Kagome responded.  
  
"...How about we keep going?" Ginta suggested.  
  
"You stay out of this." Kouga grunted.  
  
"Come on, guys. Fighting won't accomplish anything." Shippo pleaded.  
  
Kouga sighed. "The kid's right. Let's keep going." He turned, and kept walking up through the trees, away from the beach and up the mountain. He frowned. "We should get back before dark." He said.  
  
"What happens after dark?" Kagome said, apprehensive. Did demons rise up and feast on the souls of captured mortals when the light faded in this sepulchre place?  
  
"It's hard to see." Kouga responded. "Well, for you humans, anyway. Me'n Ginta, we'll be fine."  
  
"Ginta and... you." Kagome finished lamely, not wanting a repeat of last time's fiasco. She frowned. "Wait...why will it be easier for Ginta and you to see, Kouga?"  
  
"Because we're demons." He said matter-of-factly, stepping over a log. He turned to offer Kagome his hand to help her over it.  
  
She frowned. "Demons?"  
  
Kohaku tensed, freezing for an instant, before he looked up. "You're... bakemono?" He asked quietly.  
  
"Not monsters." Kouga corrected. "Demons. Youkai in human form."  
  
"Oh." Kohaku responded.  
  
Kagome frowned. Kohaku was painfully shy--why would figuring out what sort of creatures these things were matter anyway? The ears meant they obviously weren't human, and she'd noticed Kouga had a tail.  
  
Ginta cleared his throat. "Are we there yet, Kouga?"  
  
Kouga stared. "You know just as well as I do that the lair is only on the other side of this hill." He said, pointing.  
  
Ginta sighed, not wanting to explain that he'd been changing the subject.  
  
"Lair?" Shippo squeaked.  
  
"Yeah." Kouga said, shrugging. "The lair." He smiled. "Come on, we're almost there!" He said, smiling.  
  
"Whatever." Kagome sighed. She trudged up the hill behind him, with Shippo and Ginta behind her and Kohaku taking up the rear.

* * *

Miroku sighed. "Hakkaku, I sure that wherever he is, Kouga is fine."  
  
Hakkaku shook his head. "That's not what I'm worried about. I'm afraid he's late because he did something really stupid like kidnap a girlfriend."  
  
Miroku frowned lightly, looking up from the pot of stew. It was on the verge of boiling, and he stirred the peppers and beans to make sure that they'd cook evenly. "Kouga does tend to be a little impulsive, but he's not foolish." He said finally. "I'm sure that there's a perfectly good reason for him to be late and--yes Mayu?" He interrupted himself, looking up at the girl that stood next to him.  
  
"When's dinner gonna be done, Miroku?" She asked tremulously.  
  
Miroku smiled. "Dinner will be done in just a little while, Mayu. Why don't you play with Hakkaku to pass the time?" That would distract both of them.  
  
"Ok..." Mayu said, thinking. Then she smiled. "Hey Hakkaku?"  
  
"Whassup, Mayu?" Hakkaku responded, still staring distractedly out the entrance to their cave complex.  
  
"Wanna play 'pirates' with me?" She asked hopefully.  
  
Since Kouga wasn't there Hakkaku looked to Miroku for direction. He waved Hakkaku on.  
  
"Sure, Mayu. Why don't you see if some of the other kids want to play, too?" Hakkaku responded.  
  
"Ok!" Mayu said cheerfully, racing off to tell the other kids.  
  
Hakkaku grunted. "Dinner's gonna be late tonight, isn't it?"  
  
Miroku shrugged delicately. "I just put the food in the pot, Hakkaku. Dinner won't be for another hour or so."  
  
"Ah." Hakkaku said, standing up. "In that case, I guess that means that I'll be playing pirates for about an hour, eh?"  
  
"As insightful as always." Miroku complemented. "And don't forget your eyepatch, Hakkaku." He added helpfully.  
  
"Humph." Hakkaku grunted.  
  
"Let's play!" Mayu shrieked, the other kids bouncing around happily as they swarmed Hakkaku, dragging him outside to play in the clearing, illuminated by the fire at the cave entrance.  
  
Hakkaku's ears twitched when Mayu proclaimed the fallen log at the end of the clearing their pirate ship. He frowned, concentrating, and then grimaced, biting back the epithet he wanted to mutter.  
  
"Ok, everybody, back inside the cave!" He commanded, and frowned when he was greeted with a unanimous round of "Awwwww!"  
  
He frowned. "If you don't go back inside you'll go in time out!" He threatened.  
  
"But Hakkaku..." Mayu wheedled.  
  
"No buts!" Hakkaku interrupted. "And you'll go in time out during storytime!" He said, amending his threat.  
  
The kids filed in dejectedly and Hakkaku went to the entrance to meet Miroku's concerned expression. "Kouga's not to far."  
  
Miroku closed his eyes, focusing on his spirit senses, and then grunted. "I sense him. And he's with a human with strong spirit awareness." He opened his eyes.  
  
"Yeah, and there's three more humans with the two of them." Hakkaku added. His hearing was remarkably good, even for a wolf youkai.  
  
Miroku choked the fire with a few handfuls of sand so their dinner wouldn't burn. "I suppose we should greet them and try to control the damage." Miroku said, resigned. He was worried inside, though. Going from the Normal World towards the Spirit World was extremely easy--from a magical perspective, Never-Never Land was in the middle--but going from the Spirit World to the Normal World was an uphill battle. It took a lot of energy. Moving two people was a strain for Miroku; moving five or even just those was way beyond him.  
  
Hakkaku grunted as they walked outside, waiting patiently in the center of the clearing for Kouga and whomever he'd managed to drag back with him.  
  
Miroku could hear them before he could see them.  
  
"I don't care if Miroku's a Bodhisattva; I'm not trusting anyone associated with you!" A voice rang out. Miroku winced. It seemed that Kouga had managed to antagonize her.  
  
Then he perked up. At least it was a girl!  
  
Hakkaku slapped his forehead. He hadn't been serious with the "kidnapped girlfriend" comment, but apparently there was more truth in his words than he'd hoped.  
  
"Kagome, maybe you shouldn't be so mean to..." Shippo's voice trailed off as they entered the clearing. There in the firelight stood two men; one looked a lot like Ginta, except his hairstyle was completely different. And the other looked like a Zen monk, since he was wearing a kesa. Except he had hair. Zen monks definitely didn't have hair.  
  
"Who are you?" Kagome demanded bluntly. Behind her, Ginta winced. She had gotten steadily more annoyed as their little hiking trip had progressed.  
  
"My friend here is Hakkaku," Miroku said happily, pointing at Ginta's best friend. "As for me, I'm the priest you have such an esteemed opinion of, Miroku." He finished, pointing at his chest. "A pleasure to be of service."  
  
Kagome didn't trust smooth guys. Like Miroku. "I'm Kagome. This is Shippo, Souta, and Kohaku." She said bluntly, pointing to each in turn.  
  
"Is dinner ready, Miroku?" Kouga asked hopefully.  
  
Kagome grunted sourly. She was hungry, too, but Kouga really needed to get his priorities straight. And his first priority was returning them to Earth.  
  
"Hmn?" Miroku blinked. Kohaku, eh? Then he smiled and answered Kouga's question before the wolf-demon got a chance to ask again. "No, Kouga, it still has about an hour to go."  
  
"Oh." Kouga sighed, deflated.  
  
Miroku sighed and went back up to the cave to stoke the fire and start the meal again. Hesitantly, the four humans followed the three wolf-demons back up to the cave, plopping down in a circle. Kouga slid his sword out of his belt and tossed it over to the side of the cave, and Ginta did the same with his spear.  
  
"How'd it go, Kouga?" Hakkaku finally asked.  
  
"Went good." Kouga said. "Got Shinta to the drop-off point no problem. Until," here he scowled at Miroku, "until my shadow got loose and dropped me from the sky."  
  
Miroku looked at his vegetables with great interest. "The spell is as focused as you are, Kouga."  
  
Kouga frowned. "So you're saying that it's my fault that the spell screwed up?"  
  
"Well..." Miroku began.  
  
"Wouldn't surprise me." Kagome interrupted darkly.  
  
"Hello?" Mayu asked hesitantly from the back of the cave. "Are you the new kids?"  
  
"Mayu!?" Souta asked, shocked.  
  
"Souta? Is that you, Souta!?" She squealed, running over to the fire.  
  
"Oh man..." Souta said. "You're alive, Mayu!?"  
  
Kagome gaped. Wasn't Mayu the girl that...  
  
"No." Mayu said cheerfully. "I'm dead."  
  
"Geah!" Souta replied. Shippo eeped and inched behind Kagome.  
  
Mayu giggled. "I'm not a vengeful spirit, Souta. Kouga's looking after me until I'm reincarnated!" She said cheerfully.  
  
Kagome shot a look at Kouga, who just shrugged. He never had explained what exactly he did with himself, but looking after dead ghost girls...  
  
He was either really compassionate or he took pedophile to a whole new level.  
  
"Are you ok, Mayu?" Souta said, concern winning over the willies. Mayu hadn't died under the best circumstances, and...  
  
"Yup!" Mayu said cheerfully. "Miroku's helped my be happy again, and he apologized to mommy and Satoru for me!" She responded.  
  
Kagome glanced at Miroku, who just smiled innocently. She'd thought that Mayu's mother had been speaking metaphorically when she said an angel had helped her get over Mayu's death, but apparently not... on the other hand, Kouga described the guy as a supernatural fence.  
  
"That's nice." Souta responded awkwardly.  
  
Hakkaku sighed. "I thought I told you to stay in the cave, Mayu."  
  
She frowned up at him. "I'm still in the cave."  
  
Hakkaku grunted. "I meant... never mind."  
  
Miroku knew just the solution. "Dog pile on Kouga!" He shouted out.  
  
"Hey!" Kouga sputtered, and with wail Mayu ran over and leapt on him. Instantly other kids ran from their hiding places deep inside the cave, sprinting over to leap on Kouga. Desperately he tried to squirm away, but he was tightly bound.  
  
"Why don't you join them, Souta?" Miroku suggested. "And you too, Shippo?"  
  
Shippo began to protest, but Souta just said "ok!" and dragged Shippo with him. He could tell when the adults wanted to talk.  
  
Ginta sighed and set his spear down. "I better go make sure they don't pull Kouga's tail." He stood and walked over.  
  
"OW!" Kouga screamed.  
  
"Too late." Hakkaku grunted, standing up. "Guess I better go with Ginta and make sure it doesn't happen again."  
  
"YOUCH!" Kouga yelped from under the pile.  
  
"Too late." Miroku murmured. He stirred the pot for a while before glancing at Kagome, and Kohaku behind her.  
  
"So, what do you want to know?" He asked cheerfully.  
  
Kagome glared at him. "Answer truthfully." She demanded.  
  
"I'll do my best." Miroku cheerfully equivocated.  
  
She didn't quite catch it. She stared at him for a minute before just blurting, "Are you guys pedophiles or what?"  
  
"H-huh?" Miroku said, nearly dropping his ladle into the soup.  
  
"You heard me." Kagome said. "Are you three just smuggling children in some sort of sick, Eastern-European-esque child prostitution ring."  
  
"No! Of course not!" Miroku sputtered, scrunching his nose. He sighed, composing himself. "This one is a staunch follower of Buddha, and although they are demons, those three are too." He gestured to the soup. "If you'd notice, we're eating a vegetarian dinner. No animal flesh for us."  
  
"Ok..." Kagome said, frowning. "Then what are you doing?"  
  
"Smuggling kids into the Normal World." Miroku responded. Seeing the look she was shooting him, he hastily added, "Not as prostitutes!"  
  
"Go on..." Kagome urged.  
  
"Ok, it's like this..." Miroku sighed, setting the ladle down so he could talk with undivided focus. "You see, when children die in birth or at a very young age, they cause there parents great emotional pain because of their death, right?"  
  
He continued. "Because causing suffering is bad karma, that means that children that die young amass bad karma for dying young. But since they were still just children, they didn't have the opportunity to amass any good karma, right?"  
  
"It's a little messed up, but it makes sense." Kagome nodded.  
  
"I concur." Miroku said. "Anyway, since they have substantially more bad karma than good, this means that children that died young led bad lives, and need to be punished in Hell for leading bad lives. They spend their sentence on the banks of the River Sanzu, collecting pebbles to pile as restitution for their bad lives."  
  
"And their piles are smashed by ogres from deeper in Hell, but Jizo protects them and drives the ogres away." Kohaku added.  
  
"That's terrible!" Kagome said.  
  
"Yes, on both accounts." Miroku sighed. "So I smuggle as many children from the banks of Sanzu to Never-Never Land and try to help them amass good karma before sending them back to Earth with Kouga to be reincarnated."  
  
"So that makes Kouga your delivery boy and Hakkaku and Ginta babysitters, then?" Kagome said, frowning.  
  
"Well, essentially." Miroku deferred, picking his ladle up again to stir his soup.  
  
"That's really compassionate." Kagome said. She blinked. "But, if you're going against the cycle of punishment and restitution, doesn't that make the gods angry?"  
  
Miroku frowned, deliberating. "What I'm about to share with you is not to be told to anyone, even Kouga." He said, looking up. "And I'm only telling you so you'll understand." He sighed. "Jizo... looks the other way. And the other gods don't really keep tabs on how many children are on the Sanzu."  
  
"Why shouldn't we tell Kouga?" Kagome asked. "Not that I want to tell him anything, but shouldn't he know?"  
  
Miroku grunted. "Ginta and Hakkaku suspect, but Kouga never even thought about it... the truth of it is, if Susano, who is in charge of Hell, ever found out... he'd be very angry." Miroku looked up. "I don't want Jizo to be implicated if we're ever found out."  
  
"And we're going back to the 'Normal World' very soon, so it's not an issue." Kagome said leadingly.  
  
"Of course, of course." Miroku assured her. "Until that happy day, just try and enjoy Never-Never Land, alright?"  
  
"Then why did Ginta have a spear, and why does Kouga carry around a sword?" Kohaku questioned. Kagome blinked. Come to think of it... why where they armed?  
  
Miroku grunted. Made sense he'd catch that. "Our little daycare project is not the only group to inhabit this place."  
  
"And the other group is dangerous." Kagome finished, slightly angry.  
  
Miroku frowned. "Imagine that Never-Never Land is shaped like the Greek letter theta. Never-Never Land has two long, sweeping arms that extend around two lagoons, each one on either side of a ridge; it's an oval of enclosed water bisected by a line of raised rock. Anyway, that divide is called the 'Head Ridge,' and on the other side lives a terrible demon and his group of minions."  
  
Kohaku glared. "And you fight them often?"  
  
"Never." Miroku said, shaking his head. "They never bother to cross the Head Ridge. Sometimes I wonder if they even know or care that we're here."  
  
"Ok..." Kagome said, frowning. "If you say so..."  
  
Kohaku grunted. "I don't believe you."  
  
Miroku shrugged. "I gain nothing by lying."  
  
"You sure don't." Kagome replied, leveling a glare.  
  
"Hey Miroku, is dinner ready yet?" Mayu interrupted. Miroku flicked a glance at Ginta who shrugged and went back to horsing around.  
  
Miroku frowned at the pot and took a little taste, then smiled at Mayu. "Yes, it is." He replied.  
  
"Dinner! Dinner!" Mayu shouted, running back to rejoin her friends.  
  
The scene was chaos as the group of children swamped Miroku, and Kagome was pleased he made sure to feed his 'guests,' but she couldn't help but feel that Mayu's distraction had been a little too convenient.

* * *

It was a good cigarette.  
  
He took a careful drag, filling his lungs up with smoke and holding it in as he contemplated the little wound up strip of paper smoldering between his fingers, pausing in his climb.  
  
He blew out his nose, slow, taking a hedonistic pleasure in the terrible, terrible scent of the cigarette. It smelt acrid and toxic and very very strong.  
  
He couldn't smell anything but the ashy scent of cigarette. That was kinda nice.  
  
He shifted, his robes beginning to itch. He needed to wash them, he supposed, and then started walking again, up to the top of the ridge. He had been a little messier than normal tonight, and got a guy from right in front. He'd been caught in the spray.  
  
He dragged on the cigarette again to burn away all the other smells except tobacco smoke.  
  
He grasped the cigarette carefully in between the index and middle fingers on his right hand as he leapt slightly, going up over a sheer face that he didn't feel like circumventing. He landed lightly.  
  
The severed heads he was gripping by the hair knocking against his knee. He tightened the grip, the hair splayed between the fingers of his left hand.  
  
Three more that crossed Head Ridge were staying there for a while. It had started out as a warning, but now it was The Rule: cross Head Ridge and your head stays on the ridge. Simple.  
  
He took the last drag of the cigarette regretfully and stubbed it out on his thumb, ignoring the shiny little burn that caused. He tucked the cigarette back into the packet, instead of throwing it on the ground.  
  
Then he picked out three long poles.

* * *

A big shout out to "Shinobi-chan" for reviewing.  
  
Anyway, you know a guy's at least a little evil if he's smoking when he's introduced. But that's only because the EPA lied and said second-hand smoke is a measurable carcinogen. Smoking ruins your health and makes your teeth ugly but let's stop telling ourselves that Satan is the CEO of Phillip Morris, ok?  
  
...Ignore the "free-market" propaganda of the last paragraph. Anyway, I also wanted to mention that "Bodhisattva" is the Merriam-Webster spelling, since it's actually a Sanskrit word for one that's attained enlightenment but stayed on earth out of compassion instead of passing into nirvana. They're worshipped as deities in Mahayana Buddhism; Tenzin Gai'aitsu (I'm guessing on the spelling of that one), the fourteenth Dali Lama, is a bodhisattva (allegedly, I grant).  
  
Well, that's all I can think to say except for a pathetic plea for reviews. 'Course, in order for you to review you have to have read the story so I'm not holding my breath.  
  
That's all I got. 


	3. Chapter 3

daniel's disclaimer: Yeah, I'm bordering on copyright infringement but since anime is so reliant on a dedicated fan base I don't think anyone with legal leverage will care as long as I encourage you to buy officially licensed Inu-Yasha stuff, like books and DVDs and refrigerator magnets. So go out there and get a fridge magnet with Naraku's face on it! You can use it to pin up the fanart you've made on your parents' fridge, like you're still a minor and they still want you living in their house.  
  
Anyway.  
  
Kindly notice that I've adopted a much less sucky title. I'm so bad at titles; it's beyond laughable. If any of you have an even less suckier title, than by all means, share.

* * *

Kagome snapped awake, instantly alert. She sat up cautiously, looking around.  
  
Miroku smiled at her from where he was sitting, looking out over the clearing and down the mountainside. Kagome hadn't noticed because it had been dark, but the view was really quite pretty. She frowned slightly.  
  
"That's never happened before." She said.  
  
Miroku shrugged. "If you are aware enough, spiritually, then there's a good chance that you woke up because you felt me exercising my spiritual muscles."  
  
Kagome pursed her lips. "Exercising your spiritual muscles." She repeated critically.  
  
Miroku shrugged. "Spirit magic is like anything else. You can have all the talent in the world but it means nothing without dedicated practice and informed study." He looked up at the sky, and continued. "I want to go for a walk. Care to join me?"  
  
Kagome glared at him narrowly. "If this is some sort of come-on," she began threateningly.  
  
"You'll break my shins, I know." Miroku responded.  
  
Kagome glanced at her brothers. "And they'll be safe?"  
  
Miroku nodded. "Kouga, however impulsive he may be, has a heart of gold."  
  
Kagome grunted, standing up and dusting herself off. She had felt slightly self-conscious about walking around in her pajamas, but no one else seemed to notice, and the kids where wearing the most bizarre things. "So where are we going, anyway?"  
  
Miroku smiled. "You'll see."  
  
Kagome gave him a level stare as they set off. "I don't trust you."  
  
Miroku looked to her as they set off, pushing through the initial bramble on the sides of the clearing to access the fairly open forest floor beyond. "Oh?" He rejoined.  
  
"Your smile is dishonest." Kagome said. "It doesn't touch your eyes at all, like a used cars' salesman who has to be all smiles and confidence and make the sale but he's worried that his boss put sawdust in the gearbox so the transmission will clench up, probably on a patch of black ice, and send the whole family of customers careening to a horrible mangled death." She paused then, a little out of breath from hiking and orating at the same time.  
  
Miroku sighed. "I'm taking you to see Head Ridge before you decide to make a break for yourself and unwittingly disobey the rule."  
  
Kagome stiffened. "What?" She asked. How could he possibly have guessed?  
  
Miroku sighed. "It's simple. I know you don't trust me, and you hate Kouga. Since you hate Kouga you're suspicious of his cronies, Ginta and Hakkaku. And the kids creep you out because they're all dead." He paused, and shook his foot a little to get a twig out from under his toe. "I know you want to return to the Normal World, and I'm more than willing to help you, but I must impress on you the importance of not breaking the only rule of Never- Never Land, which is 'don't cross head ridge.'"  
  
Kagome frowned. "That can't be the only reason you have for hauling me all the way out here."  
  
Miroku paused. "You don't believe me?"  
  
Kagome shook her head. "No. I don't."  
  
Miroku sighed, and shook his head. "So untrusting." He lamented, and he turned, striking up the hill instead of just skirting along the side. The two hiked along for a while, and Kagome winced, wishing she had something more substantial than slippers with Hamtaro on them to deal with the rocks and sticks and stuff. She decided to distract herself with conversation.  
  
"Who's Inu-Yasha?" She asked nonchalantly, stopping to dig a pebble out of her slipper.  
  
Miroku froze for an instant, and stalled for time. "Why do you ask?" He responded lightly.  
  
"Kouga mentioned something about him after he fell out a third story window and landed on a steel trash can." Kagome said, leaving out the part where she landed on his back.  
  
Miroku sighed. "Inu-Yasha is something of a vagabond. Kouga doesn't like him, I'm afraid. I'd prefer if you didn't bring it up with Kouga because he tends to get rather irritated and use language I'd really prefer the children not learn." He paused, and murmured, "especially since Kouga's so bad at using it."  
  
Kagome heard, like Miroku had hoped. "So Kouga's bad at cussing, huh?"  
  
Miroku sighed, and nodded. "It's actually kind of embarrassing." He paused, squinting as he looked forward. "We're getting pretty close."  
  
Kagome paused, she could hear flies buzzing ahead, although it was very faint.  
  
Miroku sighed, leaning against a tree. "Now, I want you to be prepared for what's ahead. It's the grizzliest part of Never-Never Land, and I won't think less of you for vomiting."  
  
"Thanks a lot!" Kagome wailed, staring at him. "You really mean that seriously, don't you!?"  
  
Miroku sighed. "Just follow me." He paused, turning to face Kagome. "Listen. I want you to swear that you'll never tell anyone anything I've said about Inu-Yasha. And I want you to promise to keep the secrets I've asked you to keep. I swear on Jizo's mercy that there's a good reason for why I ask this."  
  
Kagome leveled an even stare at him. "I beg you." Miroku added heavily.  
  
"I swear to keep your secrets, Miroku." Kagome said, understanding that he wouldn't accept equivocation.  
  
With that he pushed off the tree and hiked up the hill, pushing through the underbrush at the edge to break out into the ridgeline clearing.  
  
Kagome frowned, following him. He stepped to the side and she walked forward, looking up at the bare stone crag winding along in front of her.  
  
She gasped.  
  
Severed heads rammed on ten-meter stakes stood along the ridge, a grizzly forest of its own grotesque nature along the ridge. Some of the heads were simply skulls, sun-bleached. Some still had rotten flesh, flies buzzing around madly. Three were fresh; the eyes rolled back and the tongues lolling out, shriveled and blackened.  
  
Some weren't human. They had tusks or three eye sockets or horns or scales or the skin was the wrong color, even rotten, or they had shrunken dried exoskeletal pincers where a jawbone should rightly be.  
  
Kagome's knees buckled and she turned her head away, facing downhill to vomit. She heaved herself dry, Miroku holding her hair back.  
  
"It's pretty bad, isn't it?" he comforted. "It seems little comfort, but they were all killed instantly and died painlessly." He patted her back soothingly as she leaned back to sit on her ankles.  
  
"The worst are the ones that aren't human." She spat out, wiping her chin.  
  
He froze. "Damn." He grunted under his breath. Kagome frowned. She didn't think that she was supposed to have heard his whispering that time.  
  
He stood up, stepping away. "Of course she could see the demon skulls..." he mused to himself. "It's simple." He said out loud. "There are humans on this side of the island, but demons on the other." He waved. "But there's a glamour that prevents anyone from seeing a skull that's not fixed with a kindred; demons can see the demon skulls, but not the human skulls, and vice versa." He sighed. "That's why there's the rule for Never-Never Land." He stood. "It's to keep demons on that side ignorant of humans, and to keep the humans ignorant of demons."  
  
Kagome frowned. "But why?"  
  
"To prevent genocide." Miroku answered simply, evasively.  
  
Kagome shook her head. "Well, I guess I can understand why, even if it is ruthless." She frowned, glancing up at the skulls and quickly glancing away. The stench alone was the stuff of nightmares, let alone the look of them. "But," she paused, thinking, "but who enforces this rule? Who's the one that kills anyone that crosses Head Ridge?"  
  
Miroku sighed. "Inu-Yasha."

* * *

Sango grimaced as she looked up at the sky. Three years and she still wasn't used to this swirling purplish sky. No clouds or moon or stars or sun where anywhere.  
  
It was enough to drive a person stir-crazy.  
  
She looked back the two men flanking her, and they nodded, one after the other, never locking their gaze on anyone or each other, eyes always roving, roving about looking for any hint.  
  
The smell of blood and death had been overlain with the scent of cigarettes, the same damn mocking smokes that the bastard always sucked on after he offed one of them. But this time he'd killed too many. This time he'd gone too far.  
  
She shifted her weapon on her shoulder, and crept noiselessly forward, hunkered down in the bushes, darting from tree to tree as she neared the cave. The laughter of children echoed through the woods, like always, but she kept her guard up regardless.  
  
She paused at the edge, peering through the foliage while she still had cover. Right at the edge, where she could watch undetected and—  
  
"Hi Sango!" Kouga shouted, waving as he darted over, leaping clear of the undergrowth to land next to her.  
  
He took her hand between his. "I was hoping you'd come visit me today!" He said happily. "Come on, Miroku went off somewhere this morning so Ginta cooked." He declared.  
  
Sango blushed and tried to pry her hands free. Three years and he couldn't take the hint. It was depressing, really, to witness just how thick-brained Kouga could be sometimes. Three years of heavy-handed courtship and he hadn't given up.  
  
Three years and she couldn't tell him she wasn't interested.  
  
She shook herself and looked back, signaling the two guards that came with her to follow. She scowled at their tight-lipped attempts to not grin and laugh. Everyone else seemed to think Kouga's antics were funny or even cute.  
  
She was thoroughly distracted when he dragged her out of the brush by her hand, chatting animatedly about whatever vegetables or whatnot that Hakkaku had scared up for Ginta to cook for breakfast.  
  
At least this time he hadn't tried to carry Hiraikotsu for her. He'd finally learned his lesson and her boomerang bone stayed gripped in her own hand resting on her own shoulder.  
  
"Sango!?"  
  
Sango looked up, and her breath stole away. "Kohaku!?" She breathed out, unbelieving.  
  
"Big Sis!" Her brother cried, dropping the toy that he'd been distracting the kid in the parka with and sprinting over to throw himself in her bear hug as she dropped her weapon to scoop him up in her arms.  
  
She was crying. "Kohaku, I never thought we'd see each other again." She exclaimed, setting him down to look him over. "You've aged well." She complemented.  
  
"I'm thirteen, now." He admitted shyly. He smiled back. It was the brightest smile Souta had ever seen on Kohaku's face.  
  
"It's platonic, see!?" Hakkaku grated in Kouga's ear, so the latter would stop struggling.  
  
They stood at arms' length, neither quite wishing to break the moment but both wanting to know how the other had come to be in Never-Never Land.  
  
Finally Sango sighed. "It was three years ago."  
  
"When you died." Kohaku said. It wasn't a question, but Sango answered anyway.  
  
"Yes." She sighed. "We were chasing a demon, all of us. Father wouldn't let you come along because you were to young, and the monster proved to be too much for us. He killed us all." She shook her head. "But instead of reincarnating or even going to Hell, we found ourselves in this place, this Never-Never Land." She breathed in, nostrils flaring. "Ever since we've hunted for a way out. And for revenge against the one that did this to us, against Inu-Yasha."  
  
There was a terrible silence at that, broken by the man on Sango's left flank, a kindly fellow despite his intimidating scar from forehead to cheek across an eye. "What about you, Kohaku? You don't look very dead to me."  
  
"I'm not." Kohaku said, over-brightly. "Kouga brought me here by accident."  
  
Sango turned to face the wolf demon. "Oh really?" She said, frowning.  
  
"Yup!" Shippo jumped in. "He tried ta kidnap Kagome, and, well, he succeeded. But we came along to protect her!" He finished proudly, standing as tall as he could despite being short even for his young age.  
  
Sango frowned, distracted. "Who's Kagome? Who's we?"  
  
Kohaku grinned. "Kagome is my foster sister. She's really nice, and almost as protective as you." Sango blushed a little at that.  
  
"Anyway," Kohaku said, "Shippo meant my foster brothers. There's Shippo," Shippo nodded hello, "and Souta." Souta, standing over with Mayu and the other, relatively older kids, also waved. "Souta is Kagome's blood brother, but Shippo's foster like me."  
  
"I'm glad that you found a stable family." Sango said.  
  
"I still miss you and Dad a whole bunch." Kohaku said. He started tearing up. "It's really good to see you." He finished, and hugged her again. Ginta took the opportunity to herd the kids inside while Hakkaku dragged Kouga along, as discreetly as he could manage with Kouga sullenly half-resisting.  
  
"It's bad, isn't it?" Kohaku finally sighed.  
  
Sango pretended ignorance. "Is what bad?"  
  
"Whatever happened to dad. If he was ok you would have said something already."  
  
Sango sighed. "Kohaku, dad is dead. Not just to Never-Never Land, but he's totally gone."  
  
Kohaku sighed. "I figured as much." He smiled. "At least we got to see each other again."  
  
Sango sighed, and smiled. "Yeah, that's true." She swallowed. Sango could never manage to hold anything back. "But, dad, you see, well, he only totally died yesterday. We found his body this morning, before dawn."  
  
Kohaku snuffled. "You mean I could have seen him?"  
  
Sango nodded sadly. "Yeah. We came to ask that monk if he knew anything."  
  
"Didn't we Miroku?" her left flanker called out.  
  
In the bushes, Miroku bit back a curse. It had been unusually quiet so he'd hurried back, and found that Kohaku really had been the Kohaku that Sango had mentioned, so he'd decided to sneak away.  
  
He'd managed to shush Kagome with a pleading look but they never would have gotten away from the watchful eyes of the demon exterminators. He'd hoped they'd be distracted but no such luck. He straightened, put on his best smile, and prayed for the best.  
  
"It's good to see you so happy, Sango." He genially called out, stepping out of the brush. Kagome followed behind warily.  
  
Kohaku stepped forward. "Sango, I'd like you to meet my foster-sister, Kagome. Kagome, I'd like you to meet Sango. Uh, she's my real sister." He ended awkwardly.  
  
Kagome smiled and bowed, and Sango bowed back. Kagome smiled. "You must be a great person. Kohaku talked about himself so rarely, but he always held his family in great regard. It's obvious to me that he loves you a lot."  
  
Sango, relieved she wasn't being usurped, smiled back warmly. "Thank you! I'm relieved to find out that even though I couldn't be Kohaku's older sister, at least he got a wonderful replacement big sister, nee Kohaku?"  
  
Kohaku swallowed, not really wanting to touch that. "Erm..."  
  
"I'd never dream of replacing you!" Kagome hastily reassured.  
  
Totally satisfied, Sango smiled unreservedly. Miroku idly noted that she was even prettier than Kagome when she smiled. That was saying quite a bit.  
  
The scar-faced man chuckled. "A little advice, Kohaku: women always talk like you're not there. Best to just smile and nod and try and stir them to a safer topic, like work or something."  
  
Sango, acknowledging the tactful reminder, rounded on Miroku. "So, monk, what do you know about Inu-Yasha's latest killing-spree?"  
  
Miroku sighed. "Nothing. I don't pretend to know why Inu-Yasha does what he does. I haven't seen him in three years, ever since he issued his rule."  
  
Kagome turned to Miroku and frowned. Everyone but Miroku seemed to hate this Inu-Yasha fellow, and the more she heard the more she could see why. But... she had sworn secrecy to Miroku. Why had he asked that of her?  
  
"If I find out that you're lying, monk, I swear that I'll show you no pity." Sango threatened.  
  
Miroku groaned inside. If this went the way he was thinking it would, then Kouga wouldn't mind and the kids always loved an outing and he couldn't say no without being suspicious.  
  
"I understand completely, Sango." He said heavily. "And if you ever think I don't deserve mercy then at that time I won't beg for it."  
  
Sango grunted. "Well, if you don't know anything then I guess we'll just have to keep hunting for Inu-Yasha the same way we have been." She hefted Hiraikotsu back onto her shoulder and turned away. "If you don't know anything, then we'll head back to the fort."  
  
"Take me with you." Kohaku said immediately. "I want to go with you, big sis."  
  
Miroku cringed inside. Just like he'd feared. If Kohaku went, then he guessed Kagome would insist, and one thing would lead to another, and pretty soon the whole damn cave would pick up and visit the fort. They did it enough, but he always managed to find a way to delay at least a day. Now, though, he wasn't so sure.  
  
Outside Miroku smiled. "That would be fine with me. Everyone should spend time with their family."  
  
Kagome frowned. "I hate to split up. If Kohaku goes, I want Souta and Shippo and myself to go with him. Maybe they'll have a way to return us to the Normal World."  
  
Miroku knew Kouga had heard that, and sure enough the wolf demon burst outside. "Hey! If Kagome's going, then why don't we all go along and visit our friends, huh!?"  
  
Ginta, thinking of spending a night neither brat-watching or cooking, and instead having a drinking contest with Hakkaku while some of the more promiscuous and comely villagers watched appreciatively, readily agreed.  
  
Hakkaku was with Ginta. Great minds think alike, they always said.  
  
That meant that the children would have to come along, not that the village kids would mind. Their mothers might mind the short notice, but they'd probably be too busy laughing at Kouga's antics and Sango's befuddlement to mind for too long.  
  
"I think the village could use a party right now." The scarred man observed. "It's certainly the kind of funeral the head-man would have wanted." He chuckled. "Who knows, maybe his desire for grandchildren will even be granted on his last earthly night."  
  
Sango blushed. "You shut up." She growled.  
  
Kouga frowned and knitted his eyebrows. "I didn't even know her dad wanted me'n Sango to get together."  
  
"Sango and I." Kagome automatically corrected. Without thinking. She slapped her hand to her mouth as soon as she realized.  
  
"Oh no." Ginta moaned.  
  
Whoa!" Kouga shouted. "That's really kinky! I didn't need to know that." He frowned. "Besides, unless there's a lot that you're not telling us, I don't think that you could get Sango pregnant."  
  
The children watched with avid interest, packing their futons for the overnight visit less swiftly that was their custom.  
  
"Just shut up." Sango growled darkly.  
  
Shippo frowned, thinking. "No, I don't think Kagome swings that way."  
  
Souta nodded. "Sango does wear an awful lot of leather, though." Miroku literally bit his tongue to keep from adding his own two cents. He was glad he did.  
  
Kagome whirled on him. "How do you even know things like that!?" She exploded.  
  
He blinked, unaware of her anger. Or Sango's mortification. "I saw it on the Discovery Channel. It's not like it's bad, or anything. Whatever makes her happy is good, right?"  
  
Sango grunted. "I'm interested in men, not women, thankyouverymuch!" She snapped.  
  
"Whew!" Kouga said, relieved. "You had me worried for a minute, but that's an honest relief, Sango."  
  
"Grown-ups sure are weird." Shippo whispered to Souta once he deemed to safe enough to talk.  
  
"I'll say." Souta sighed. "And Sango and Kagome aren't even adults yet, and Kouga's a big idiot. I bet there's something weird going on, like Sango's got the hots for Miroku or something."  
  
"We can still hear you." Sango snarled.  
  
"Eep." Souta replied.

* * *

Once again, a big "huzzah" to Shinobi-chan for reviewing.  
  
I'm still looking for a beta reader for this. If I find someone I like then you may be permanently drafted. If you also happen to be a cute girl--  
  
I also want to point out something I'm doing technically: namely, really really long scenes. This chapter is like three thousand plus words and there's only one scene change. It makes for a real funny flow; no matter how much happens, I think, it feels inert. On the other hand, I really think it promotes deep submersion into what Gardner called the "fictional dream;" by not jumping around I really think I'm enhancing the suspension of disbelief. But I still think it might be annoying. What do you (yes, I mean YOU, the person reading this) think?  
  
CLICK THE REVIEW BUTTON! YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO!  
  
(That's all I got). 


	4. Chapter 4

daniel's disclaimer: Yeah, Rumiko Takahashi owns all these cats, not me.

Sorry about the long wait between updates. I'll try to be more timely for chapter five. Also, see if you can spot where I took a two-week road trip, and then finished the chapter.

(I'm also moving the review responses up here; scroll down to the little gray line if you don't want to read 'em).

Sashlea—I'll try to be less repetitive in the next few chapters. It's something that's bothering me, too.

The land of Never—A little disturbing? How on earth could you think that? --

Black Scarab—As of Chapter 4, Inu-Yasha is... well, find out for yourself. Hold off on calling anybody the bad guy yet, though.

Writing Soul—Double thanks for reviewing! And, Sesshoumaru might show up. No promises either way.

(That's it. ::sighs mournfully::)

* * *

He stood, looking down. He felt numb, a little, and slightly guilty, or apprehensive, like he should be feeling an emotion he wasn't feeling. But all he felt, personally, was numb, and a little tired. He was tired of struggling, of fighting so hard just to keep up with everyone else. He was tired of always being alert, because there was always the possibility that if he slipped up, even once, someone would kill him. That was the way his life was.

So he came here, and rested heavily against the rail, feeling tired inside. But his eyes darted, hungrily taking in everything they could.

It was so bright.

That was the only way he could describe it. The light seemed to flow in rivers, streams of bright yellow motes along the streets spread out below him, glinting slightly against the waters in the bay. It was a breathtaking display of human might, standing here and leaning heavily against the rail and looking out on the shining city of Tokyo through this broad glass window.

Breaking into Tokyo Tower like this was a little dangerous, but it was worth it to be able to look across the city like this all alone on a cloudy night.

"Why are you here, demon?"

His head snapped up, a moment of apprehension and startled awareness instantly filling his senses. The one that had spoken was a woman, dressed in combat fatigues. She had an incongrous naganata hefted across her shoulder, and she was flanked by two others, a man and another woman. Those two had strong spirit power, for humans. They were armed only with prayer beads.

All this in the blink of an eye.

"Keh." He said quietly. He turned back to lean on the railing, his ears flicking to face them underneathe his hat, his long white hair flowing loosely down his back. "Breaking and entering is a concern for the police, not demon exterminators."

She snorted. "You speak so cleverly, monster, but we will not show you mercy."

The man spoke up. "Your aura is thick with murder. You have killed numerous times."

He cocked his head oddly, glancing back at the speaker. "Are you addressing me, or your leader?" He pushed off the railing, his sneakers making quiet skuffing sounds as he shifted to face them. His dark denim jeans and leather belt and red shirt with the single sanskrit character "ohm" did not match the thin Spanish sword he slid out of the simple cane he carried at his side.

The lead woman scowled. "You are a demon, and deserve extermination."

He grunted. "If you attack, I will defend myself with mortal force." He threw the scabbard of the cane sword aside, and held the blade up, wrist down and knuckles up in the 'second' position, directed at the leader's face.

She held the naganata in front of her. "Your flimsy European weapon is no match for my Japanese polearm!"

"Keh." He spat. "Your arrogance is no match for my confidence."

"Die!" She shouted, running forward. The two that came with her ran at angles, intent on surrounding him and purifying away his life with their magic.

He lunged forward, stabbing her in the right shoulder at the top of the lung in the opening she made by lifting her polearm above her to cut him in half. The range of a specialized European thrusting weapon was unmatched among swords, and often underestimated among the Japanese.

She gasped, and he wrenched the blade free, stepping his left foot around her wounded side, punching her wounded shoulder and sweeping her foot out from under her, turning to face behind him as the man approached, hoping to seal him while he was distracted. He lunged again, faking towards the man's face and with lightning speed changing approach to stab him in the stomach. He came in close, punching the man in the face and shoving him off the sword with an awkward kick above the wound.

He turned to face the last woman, the body of their leader lying between them. The leader gasped, forcing herself to stand.

The priestess readied an enchantment, the mystic paper in her hand glowing with spiritual energy.

He scowled. She was a good ten meters away, with a wounded comrade in between. He reached underneath his shirt, and drew a knife from the second belt across his ribs.

He threw it, and the priestess gargled when it buried in her throat. She desperately tore it free, falling on her side as her life-blood gushed out between her fingers.

"B-bastard." The leader wheezed, standing up. Blood ran down her chin. Her lung was slowly filling with blood.

"You won't escape. The rest of our clan will hunt you mercilessly." The man behind him gasped, struggling onto his knees, blood pouring from his broken chin and, more ominously, from the stab wound he plugged hopelessly with a finger.

Their foe grunted. "I have yet to demonstrate any evil magic. All I've done is kill you."

"And you will not be forgiven for that." The woman said, holding her polearm in her left hand, trembling. "You will not be forgiven killing us."

"And you will not be forgiven for your killing intent." He respond, whirling to run the stomach-wounded man through the throat as he readied one last magic.

He gargled and fell, dying quickly.

Quietly the white-haired demon walked towards the last woman, his sneakers scuffing slightly on the carpet. He paused. "Hypocrite." He sneered, finally, his face angry. He lunged forward, dashing her blade out of the way with his own sword, and smashed a punch into her chest wound.

He retrieved his sheathe, and whipped the blood from the blade.

"You are a righteous monster. We will exterminate you." She gasped from where she lay on the ground.

"Inu-Yasha." He said quietly.

"Eh?" She responded, surprised and angry.

"The name of the man you have tried to murder this night is Inu-Yasha." He expounded. He turned. "I don't care if you tell your family, but I will kill anyone who attacks me."

He walked towards the elevator, leaving her to die slowly, bleeding to death inside her ribcage.

He could hear her dialing a cell phone as he closed the door, and started walking down the staircase.

He wasn't tired anymore.

Just angry.

Inu-Yasha snapped tense, hand flashing to the swords at either hip as he alertly searched the area around him. He grunted, relaxing back against the cave mouth. He could see or hear no one, and his nose told him there was no one hiding nearby, either.

It had been a long time since he'd dreamed of when he'd murdered Sango's mother. It had been one of the worst decisions of his life, to give her his name. Her husband had hunted him relentlessly through Tokyo. Eventually it had come to a head and he'd massacred the man and practically the whole exterminator clan, but even then they became ghosts intent on haunting him for their murders.

It had been Miroku's idea to suck them into Never Never Land.

And not three days later the Kazaana had become lethally large.

Now, he walked on the blade of the sword and called it Head Ridge. Now, he rode the tiger and called it "The Rule."

Dammit.

He sighed, and picked up the cold bowl of stew, and ate mechanically. Ginta was a pretty good cook, but he was basically inventing everything as he went along, since he'd only been a vegetarian for the years he'd been here.

And there was only so much that could be done with rice, tofu, and coconuts. Especially since Kouga hated coconuts.

He glanced over at the sleeping child, curled up under a blanket. At least the kid was dry. The wool blanket he wore like a mantle was still damp, and his pants were chaffing. He'd taken off his belts to let them dry. At least his shirt was cotton, and would dry relatively quickly. Sometimes he hated the shortcuts he had to use to preserve his magical energy.

The dried blood on the child's forehead was beginning to flake. It could only maintain the spell for so long, and when it ended the child would wake up, confused, disoriented, and scared. Miroku had to be there when that happened, because Inu-Yasha scared kids.

He wished he knew where the hell Miroku was. It was going to be dark soon.

* * *

Miroku sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and the second joint of his forefinger. This was really too much.

"What's wrong, Miroku?" Kagome said, sitting down next to him. She didn't sound worried, exactly. More like apprehensive, he thought. Like she was more worried about what would happen to herself and her brothers if he died and left her all alone with Kouga.

He smiled winningly. "Oh, nothing. I'm afraid that all this noise doesn't agree with me, that's all."

They both winced as Shippo let out a particularly loud shriek from where Souta had organized a game of football. The exterminators' children had caught on quickly and instantly pronounced the game a keeper, much to their parents' dismay.

Miroku sighed again. He was worried about Inu-Yasha's reaction to all this, too.

Kagome smoothed the kimono that Sango had so kindly lent her so she didn't have to parade around in pajamas and sat back, looking at Miroku intensely.

"...What?"

"You're thinking about Inu-Yasha, aren't you?" Kagome said finally. "You always clench your forehead so tightly when you think about him that you're practically a uni-brow."

"Oh?" He said innocently.

"Yeah." She frowned. "What's up with Inu-Yasha, anyway? Everyone but you seems to hate him, and you obviously know all about him but don't say anything." She paused, eyes widening. "He's your gay lover, isn't he!?"

Miroku grunted, crinkling up as he caught himself. "What makes you say that?"

"Well," Kagome said, "You know all about him but act like you don't, and Kouga and Sango both hate his guts. They don't seem like the sort to accept 'alternative lifestyles,' so it's obvious they think that he's gay but don't know that you are his lover."

"That's very thoughtful, Kagome." Miroku praised. He paused. "However, since monks aren't supposed to have any sexual orientation at all, and Inu-Yasha has his own hang-ups, I have to point out that neither of us have lovers, gay or otherwise."

"Oh." Kagome said. "What kind of hang-ups?"

Miroku sighed. "That's not my business, let alone yours."

Kagome pouted. "You're avoiding the question."

"No," Miroku said, sighing as he stood up, "I'm being conscientious." He offered her a hand, which she pointedly ignored as she stood up too.

"Whatever." Kagome said. "Let's go see if the rest of the village is still laughing at Sango and Kouga."

Miroku sighed. "You have to admire Kouga's persistence."

Miroku stood, and the smile on his face froze. Sango was walking over, a grim expression on her face, Kohaku tagging along looking confused. The girl was radiating sakki, the killing aura.

"Monk," she said, "Kohaku tells me that you happened to mention something about demons while you were describing Never Never Land to him." She hefted Hiraikotsu menacingly. "I would like to hear you explain why you neglected to mention such a threat to us, the demon exterminators."

Miroku's pleasant smile collapsed, his features taking on a resigned expression. "It was not for you to know." He said simply.

"Not for us to know!? Not for us to know that there are monsters out there that could kill us in the night while we wait, unprepared!?" Sango shouted.

"You forget your place." Miroku said chillingly.

"My father died!" Sango raged. "He was killed by that bastard, that craven cur Inu-Yasha, and you speak of place!?"

The village quieted, the children stilling and the music stopping as everyone watched the truth unfold.

Miroku waited until Sango finished speaking, and then spoke. "I understand how you feel, Sango, but you must accept that—"

"How can you understand my heart!?" Sango yelled. "Every morning we demon slayers express surprise and delight at living through another night! Every day we live under the threat and veil of death! How can you know what goes on in our hearts!?"

Miroku looked down, his bangs shielding his eyes. Kagome frowned. His right hand was tightly clenched, a fist. She couldn't see his left hand.

"You know nothing, Sango. Please, calm down." Miroku whispered.

"No." Sango spat. She turned, and shouted. "Across Head Ridge lies a cohort of demons!" She waited for the exclamations to die down before continuing. "That is the secret Inu-Yasha hides! Every able-bodied warrior will march to the ridge, to exterminate those monsters!" She turned. "The young, the old, and those generally less skilled will hold down the fort!"

"Yes, leader." A voice rang out, and then the camp was a flurry of activity. Warriors gathered armor and weapons, ignoring Miroku's shouted protests that this was wrong, that they were making a mistake.

"Monk, we will no longer believe your lies." Sango said to him, and turned. "The children will be protected." She started to walk away, and paused. "But," she said, turning, "I don't think you can be trusted."

Miroku grunted, flipping his staff off the ground and up into his hands. "You will not defeat me in combat." He said simply.

"Miroku! Miroku!" Ginta shouted. "What the hell is going on!?"

"Get Kouga." Miroku commanded. "Tell him I need his help."

Ginta took one look at Sango and nodded, speeding off.

Sango grunted, and ran forward. "HAA!" She shouted, swinging Hiraikotsu around.

"Don't!" Kohaku shouted, alarmed.

"Kohaku! Get back!" Kagome screamed, running to pull him away.

The Hiraikotsu swung out on a horizontal plane; a simple, obvious stroke. Miroku could not hope to divert the path of such a massive weapon, however, so his only hope would be to dodge.

Kagome gasped as he stepped forward, grabbing the Hiraikotsu with his bare right hand. She noticed, for the first time it seemed, that the fingernails on his right hand were pitch black. Then there was a hideous crunching sound, and a network of cracks spread up through the bone as his fingers dug into the side, crushing the weapon with strength beyond mortal kin.

Sango's eyes widened. "That's a demonic hand."

Miroku nodded slightly. "Inu-Yasha cut my real one off, and this one was attached instead."

Then there was a hideous snap as the Hiraikotsu was fractured, splitting into three pieces from Miroku's crushing hold.

Sango jumped back, cursing. "If he cut your hand off, why do you protect him!?" She shouted.

Miroku laughed sharply. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Hey Miroku, what's up?" Kouga asked idly as he slammed to a landing between them. "Hey, what the hell happened to Hiraikotsu!?" He exclaimed.

"Never mind that!" Miroku shouted. "Take me back to the cave as fast as you can!"

"Wait!" Kagome shouted. "I'm going too!"

"Eh?" Kouga said.

"Not so fast!" Sango shouted, leaping forward with her sword drawn.

"Wups!" Kouga commented, leaping back. "You seem pretty angry, Sango."

"Don't worry about that, Kouga." Miroku ordered. "Just carry me back to the cave as quickly as you can."

"And me!" Kagome said.

"Ok." Kouga said, shrugging. He picked on up and threw each over a shoulder and jumped, clearing the barricade in a single bound, ignoring Sango's frustrated shout.

"Look after the other two while I'm gone, Kohaku!" Kagome shouted.

They ran, Kouga's legs swallowing the ground at an incredible pace. Miroku turned to glance at Kagome. "Why did you come along?"

Kagome grunted, flinching when Kouga leapt over a fallen tree. "You said that Inu-Yasha was the only one strong enough to take us home, and that's who you're going to, isn't it?"

Kouga grunted, nearly loosing his balance. "What's this about that mangy dog?"

Miroku sighed. "Kouga, you've only met him once, and that one time you picked a fight with him because Sango hates him. This doesn't concern you."

Kagome frowned. "I didn't know Kouga fought Inu-Yasha."

"Ha!" Kouga crowed, dodging a tree, "I had him right where I wanted him!"

"He sliced your right hamstring and walked off." Miroku blandly responded. "You had a limp for a month and a half, even with demonic healing. You're just lucky he didn't cripple you entirely."

"He's absolutely merciless, that's what." Kouga said darkly. "He even said he woulda killed me if he took me seriously, the arrogant bastard."

Kagome squeaked, mostly from Kouga landing with a thump in front of the cave. "And this is the guy that's gonna help me!?"

"Hello Inu-Yasha!" Miroku shouted.

Kagome looked up as Kouga bristled. There stood the Inu-Yasha that everyone talked about.

He was tall, not unusually so, but tall. He was wearing a pair of Nikes, scuffed and black with a grungy white logo. His pants were simple wool hakima, with odd straps below the knee and at the ankle. His entire upper buddy was wrapped in what looked like a wool blanket, brown with simple zigzagging gray and faded red stripes. And he looked... damp. Not wet, but damp.

His muted clothes clashed with his brilliant golden eyes, ridiculously long hair in some kind of mullet, and, of all things, dog-ears. Which, in retrospect, didn't really surprise Kagome too much, what with she'd seen and a name like "Inu-Yasha."

He's staring at me, Kagome realized, and the look on his face was the oddest she'd ever seen. He looked sour and resentful and sad, all at the same time.

And then he opened his mouth. "What the bloody hell is goin' on, Miroku?"

Miroku sighed. "Kouga kidnapped this girl and three boys. Sango found out about the demons. She took the warriors to fight them."

"Shit." Inu-Yasha responded succinctly. "Well, I brought a kid in." He turned, crouching in the entrance of the cave, and stood, a little girl in his arms. He faced Miroku.

Kouga cursed in surprise, and Kagome gasped. The simple character "Inu" had been written on her forehead in what looked like blood; Kouga could smell that not only was it blood, it was Inu-Yasha's blood mixed with the girl. Whatever the exact magic was, it was serious stuff.

Miroku grunted, carefully wiping the character off the girl's forehead. "By the water this time, eh?" He asked absently.

"Keh." Inu-Yasha responded sourly. Kagome gasped when she recognized that there were two sheathes poking out from under the blanket, a thin one on his right hip and a broader one on his left hip.

"What do you want, girl?" He demanded.

She frowned, slightly put off by his attitude. "Nothing." She spat at him.

Miroku turned to Kouga and dumped the girl in his surprised arms. "Take her back to the village. Tell Ginta and Hakkaku to sit tight." He paused, and looked Kouga right in the eye. "If Inu-Yasha gives you orders, obey them as you would my own, understand?"

"What?!" Kouga shouted.

"Do it!" Miroku shot back.

"...Fine." Kouga assented, turning and running back the way he came.

"...To slow down the exterminators following you, huh?" Inu-Yasha grunted.

"That too." Miroku admitted, chuckling.

"You sent Kouga out as a distraction?" Kagome accusingly asked.

Inu-Yasha snorted. "It's not like they'll kill the damn wolf, especially with a kid. Those demon exterminators, they like to think they're the good guys."

Kagome frowned. "Aren't they?"

"Not if you're a demon." Miroku responded easily.

"So." Inu-Yasha sighed, changing the subject. "It's all over."

Miroku sighed, too. "You know as well as I that it had to end, sooner or later. These last three years..."

Inu-Yasha grunted. "Keh."

Kagome frowned. "Umm... what's going on?"

Miroku smiled. "Long story. For some other time." But first he turned to Inu-Yasha. "Will you stop them?"

Inu-Yasha frowned, looking up at the sky. It was dark, and starless and moonless, but still it radiated some of its bizarre light. He really missed the moon.

"No." Inu-Yasha finally said. "I was wrong to try and stop them, anyway. If they want to fight and die, I have no choice but to let them massacre each other."

Kagome grunted. "One side is demons, the other is demon-exterminators. Other than that, why would they fight?"

Miroku sighed. "You pretty much explained it already. Demon-exterminators kill demons for killing and eating humans. And demons kill demon-exterminators for killling demons and making weapons of demon corpses."

"Each side not only kills the other," Inu-Yasha said, "but each side also defiles the other side's dead. They hold vendettas."

Kagome swallowed. "That's terrible. Eating people is bad..."

Inu-Yasha shrugged. "Demons suffer from a scurvy without at least a little human sustenance. Hunting is a necessity of life."

"And without weapons made from demon bones, humans could not hope to defeat a demon. But you're still defiling a corpse." Miroku responded tiredly, adding what sounded like an obvious point to the two.

Kagome shook her head. These two were simply reciting what they already knew... like they'd been through it a hundred times, and could never find anything else to say. "So you're just going to let them kill each other!?"

Inu-Yasha grunted. "The outcome of this battle is obvious. But, how to respond? We must fight, and not draw attention to ourselves."

"What are you talking about?" Kagome asked, confused.

The two ignored her.

"You want to fight him somewhere else." Miroku said incredulously. "The only thing that keeps him from killing you is the fear of dying himself, and you want to take that leverage away."

"I have no choice." Inu-Yasha spat, and then suddenly he laughed, harsh and bitter.

"And you will help me, girl." He said, spinning to face Kagome.

"I will?" She said, totally lost.

"Yeah." Inu-Yasha said. "You're going to help me finally kill Naraku."

"Who?" Kagome asked.

* * *

Who, indeed!

I'm so petty. There are so many cliffhangers in that last exchange that I fear I might have fallen off one or two myself. Anyway, I'll try to explain everything that's going on within the next few chapters. I do get asked "what's going on!?" and I just want to reassure everyone that any loose ends at this point will be addressed. It's only a matter of time.

I really can't stress that enough; don't worry, things don't have to make sense right away. That's part of the suspense. Don't worry, things will make sense in the end. All the pieces will come together and the story will make sense.

That's about it.


End file.
